A Sign of Friendship
by RonaldAndMione
Summary: DHP2 is coming out in two weeks. Every second day until then I'll post a story, each one set in a different book. Here's Philosopher's Stone - Ron and Hermione in the hospital wing. Frienship and a very tiny,  miniscule, hint of romance.


**Hi everyone! Thank you for all your wonderful reviews. I smile every time I see them. Don't worry about my email inbox - I love the reviews! :)**

**To celebrate the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II, I am going to release a story every second day until Wednesday 13th of July, the day it is released in Australia, and the day I go see it. The first story, this one, will be set in Philosopher's Stone, second one in Chamber of Secrets, and so forth.**

**It's a long drabble, or a short one-shot, depending on how you see it.**

**Disclaimer: Why would I be putting in a disclaimer if this was mine? Harry Potter is J.K. Rowling's.**

"Ron?" Hermione tenderly called as she sat down next to his bed. Ron still hadn't awoken after falling from the chess piece. The moment she heard Ron say he was going to sacrifice himself, Hermione had felt extremely proud to be able to call him her friend.

Despite the fact that her friends were currently in the hospital wing, a part of Hermione was happy – happy that she had friends to visit in the hospital wing. She had never had anyone to care for, or anyone to care for her either. Now, she had Harry and Ron.

Ron slowly opened his eyes. Hermione peered forward anxiously. "Ron?" she called out once more.

Ron grumbled something incoherent, and looked up at Hermione. "Hermione? You alright?"

Hermione smiled. He was worried for her. "Yes, I'm fine, thank you. How are you though? You're the one in the hospital."

"Technically you're in the hospital wing too." Ron pointed out, with a grin on his face.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Don't get smart."

Ron laughed.

"I guess that answers my question though – you're perfectly fine." Hermione said.

Ron's laugh faded away. "Where's Harry?" he asked. Hermione pointed to a nearby bed. Curtains were around it, but they could see Madame Pomfrey's silhouette. She was busy tending to their friend. Ron looked back at Hermione. "What happened?"

"I don't know what exactly happened to Harry," Hermione admitted. "Professor Dumbledore didn't tell me."

"Dumbledore was here?" Ron asked, his eyes widening in awe of the headmaster.

"Yes." Hermione primly clarified. "He and Madame Pomfrey spoke in hushed voices for a little while, and didn't tell me much."

"What happened after I fell onto the chess board then?" Ron asked.

"Harry checkmated the king, and we continued on." Hermione avoided telling him how worried she had been for him, how scared she'd been that he had died. "We came to another challenge. It was a riddle, with bottles of drinks. Only one would let you pass through. After some debating, I picked one, but there was only enough for one person to drink. So I left Harry and came back for you."

Ron was still in awe. "Wow." He said, then coughed. "Uh, well done."

Hermione smiled. So many people told her that constantly, yet it was such a delight to hear it from Ron. Hermione paused – why was it? Perhaps it was because he had been so rude to her this year that a compliment would be pretty unexpected and rare. She decided to return it. "You too." She said. "I was so proud of you, sacrificing yourself."

Ron looked up at her bashfully. He gave her a lopsided grin. "Oh, thanks," he said dismissively, "but it was nothing. Anyone can do that. It takes real talent to think of a correct answer to a riddle."

"No," Hermione intervened. "Not everyone can sacrifice themselves. Most people would turn around and run back to safety when faced with something as dangerous as what you faced. You carried on though. That's true bravery, Ron. You're extremely brave. You're a true Gryffindor."

The tips of Ron's ears turned pink. "Thanks." He said sheepishly. He hesitated for a moment, and then spoke. "I'm glad you're in Gryffindor, Hermione. It's nice having you as a friend."

Hermione beamed, feeling on top of the world.

**I'm not too good with writing about Ron and Hermione when they were younger, so it was pretty hard for me. I liked the challenge though.**

**Next story, set in Chamber of Secrets will be posted in two days.**

**Please, leave a review? :)**

**-Sasha**


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